The boys and I have been potty training now for a little over a week. Both of them are doing great! I attribute that success to a few things. First of all, they are OLD. They are 3 and a half. Second, they asked to do it themselves (after much talking it up from me for a few weeks before.) And third, the proper equipment. There’s not a lot of equipment there, but what I have works for us.

2 small potties. My house boasts 3 toilets. But with two people potty training and the rest of us, sometimes all the bathrooms are occupied at the same time. We have two small potties where the boys can access them very fast.
I like the potties that have a back and a bowl that lifts out. I have two different colors and each boy has his OWN potty. This has also been a big help.

Underwear. Batman Underwear!
I only put on batman underwear on in the morning. They get to put a marble in their behavior jar when they are still wearing their batman underwear at bedtime. We also have basic underwear for when they have an accident. 10 marbles in their jar gets them a batman toy!

Pull-Ups. We’re still new at this. And sometimes we still have to leave the house. So I won’t have to worry about finding a bathroom at that exact moment, we have pull ups.
I could continue to use the diapers I have but they hate to lay down and have it taken off them. They want to stand up now like big boys! Pull ups are just so much easier.

Skittles. I let the boys pick out their own rewards. Pirate picked Skittles
, Professor picked peanut butter M&Ms.
Slowly, both of them have wanted only Skittles.

Baby Legs. It’s been cold here. In fact, this weekend, we had the coldest day on record! Only 50 degrees! And that’s just not a good temperature to be hanging out in a shirt and underwear all day. Enter baby legs!
They are really cute leg warmers that go up to mid thigh on them. They help with the potty training because now the boys don’t have to fight with pants AND underwear when they need to go in a hurry. And their legs stay warm. Bonus perk? They add another layer under their regular clothes and will help with keeping them warm as the temps just get colder!

We’re still working on no accidents (both had a perfect day yesterday!) and it hasn’t been too bad. But I am glad I waited SO long to start them. If only cleaning my living room carpet once is the only accident I have (and what an accident it was!!), I’ll call it great.

(I am playing catch up from our trip to Utah this year to see family. I’m picking a few things to focus on and highlight every week until I am done. Enjoy!)

(Scroll down for the giveaway.)

One of the best things about going to Utah is seeing our family. Juice’s oldest brother hosted a BBQ. We came, jumped on the tramp (the kids) and talked (the adults). It is so much fun to see all of our family and catch up on the year with them.

I have to say, my highlight of the night was to see my set of twins and my sister-in-law Splat‘s set of twins together.

These guys were born just a few months apart. Splats and I were pregnant at the same time with our twins. (We were also pregnant at the same time with her boy and my girl.) And I’m so pleased that they will have cousins that are twins too! I imagine in about 3 years, the 4 of them are going to be a lot of trouble.

Except when I am trying to take pictures of them together. They are already double partners in crime.

Lately the boys have been playing so cute together. They chase each other around the house squealing and laughing and falling down together in a heap. They take turns being the ‘mommy’ and the ‘baby’ or will race things around in a doll stroller, each pushing one handle. It’s so incredibly adorable I just don’t know how I got so lucky to see it every day.

Until it’s not adorable.

Like when I’m making lunch and Professor comes in to see me bawling and rubbing his side. A nice, Pirate sized mouth print is right under his arm pit. Or when Professor pushes Pirate off the couch and he smashes his face into a plastic toy and gets a black eye. Or when they hit each other on the head. Or lock each other in the bathroom. Or steal each other’s prized toys. Or sword fight with books. Or pretend to shoot each other with rail road pieces while running through the house, giggling.

Every night before I put the boys in their beds, we read 2 stories. We sit in the rocking chair, and Professor needs either his binkie or his water. Pirate needs his blanket. Sometimes they convince me to read an extra story or rock them for a few minutes before getting them into bed.

Tonight, Professor found a binkie that we still have that he doesn’t like. Pirate has claimed it and likes to chew on it. Immediately, Professor had to have his OWN binkie. So up we go to find it. Once he had it and we were all back in the rocking chair, Professor turns to Pirate and smiles behind his binkie. Pirate smiles back, and they lean over to touch binkies. And then they giggled.

It was so adorable.

And then they leaned over and gave each other a huge hug. Took my breath away…so cute and sweet.

And then at 10pm I had to separate them into different rooms because they were.not.sleeping.

Today was spent playing at Juice’s sister’s house. Juice’s parents were there as well so it was one big crazy time. Between the two of us, we have 8 kids. 7 of them are 5 and younger. Boy did we have a good time.

There was watermelon to eat. There were squirt guns to play with. And there was a toy vacuum for Professor. Butterfly said it was one of her best days ever. And, “Can we please play with cousins more often?” I wish…I wish.

This week’s question of the week at the Multiples and More blog is about questions!

What is the craziest thing someone has ever said to you about your multiples and how did you respond?

“Are they twins?” When they were little, it used to irritate me to no end. Two babies, double stroller, one adult…maybe they thought I was a daycare worker? My most favorite come back to that one is, “Well, one is mine and one is my husbands.” I just loved to see the looks people would give me as they were trying to work that out in their heads. Most of the time I took pity on them and answered, “Yes, they are twins,” and then would walk away.

I don’t get that as much any more. Maybe because of the size difference between my twins. They look so different from each other that I think people assume they aren’t twins. Fine by me.

“Who is older?” Why does this matter? Just because Pirate is 7 minutes older than Professor, it doesn’t give him 7 advantages or something. Most of the time I just say, “I’m not sure,” and people nod knowingly.

“Are they natural?” Um, no…they are ghosts. They are part of this elaborate dream you are having. When you spotted us, you were sucked into some kind of alternate reality and are no longer real yourself! Sheesh. Of course they are real. As real as you or I am!

“Do twins run in your family?” This question I have several answers to. Most of the time I will answer “no” and let them debate to themselves what that means. My favorite answer to this question is, “Well, my sister in law had twins two months after I did.” Then they get all excited that twins DO run in my husbands family, even though we know that the guy has nothing to do with twinning. (But they really do run in his family…just with the girls in his family.)

“Which one is the mean one?” Seriously, I had this question asked by an old lady at Jiffy Lube. Seriously lady? They were just barely walking at the time. I don’t think anyone can be mean at that point in your life! My answer? “Well, I’m just not sure since they are so young and all.” Then she nodded knowingly.

I’m afraid I’m not a very good twin myth buster. That knowing nod is so funny to watch!

After I got out of the shower the morning I noticed that the boys were very quiet. It’s not unusual for me to find them into some kind of mischief after my quick “splash and dash”. So I went in search of them and found them in our spare bedroom on the bed. (Flower, we’re ready for you!!) They had found my stash of travel SEED products and had tossed them around the room. By the time I walked in, they were snuggled up together on the bed desperately trying to get the boxes of soap open.

And when they put their minds to it, they get what they want! I thought they were so cute surrounded by soap boxes so I whipped out my camera. Sadly, I didn’t get them surrounded in boxes by the time I came back from getting my camera. But I did get some very cute ones!

Of course, the fun ended when Professor decided to try and take a huge bite out of the soap.

And it’s so nice that they decided to showcase my last giveaway! I’ve extended the deadline and you can comment and enter up until midnight EST. I’ll count all the comments on this post as well.

For extra entries:

* Follow SEED on twitter…leave me a comment that you did.
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* Tweet about this contest or write on SEED’s facebook wall and receive 5 extra entries!